The enclosure is central to nearly every aspect of varanid husbandry, yet it is not often we hear any sort of detailed discussion on what makes a good cage. It is the container of the entire environment of most captive varanids and subsequently, must provide for all of it's biological needs.

Therefore, in order to build any kind of quality environment it stands to reason that, at the very least, a basic understanding of the biology of these animals is necessary to do so. Monitors, as are all reptiles, are ectotherms. This means, to put it in simple terms, that they must use external temperatures within their surroundings to regulate internal functions, most importantly, the metabolic function. Monitors use different temperatures in order to perform different tasks. They move in and out of hot, mid range and cooler areas depending on what they happen to need at any given time. They use high surface temperatures (130+f) for example to speed up the body's process for a number of reasons, including the metabolization of nutrients. Another reason they seem to need to heat up quickly is that with a higher internal body temperature, varanids can move more quickly and the senses in general seem to work in a much more efficient manner enabling them to better escape predators as well as hunt prey. Though predators and prey may not be factors within the captive environment, monitors are highly active creatures and should have access to these high temperatures so they may be allowed to move about normally for the purposes of physical exercise. Mid-range temperatures (85-100) seem to come into play when these animals are out during the day resting between foraging and hunting excursions, or better, exploring the enclosure as captives, while lower temperatures(low 70s-mid 80s) are used during times of rest or sleep. This range of temperatures is what is referred to as a thermal gradient. A good enclosure should be well insulated and sealed in order to contain this range of temperatures.

Another key ingredient to a quality enclosure is it's ability to hold humidity. The best way of achieving the high surface temperatures required to sustain healthy varanids is through the use of lights that produce a great deal of heat. These lights tend to dry out even a well sealed cage rather quickly. It is thought that basking monitors, especially very young ones or smaller species can actually loose water faster than they will drink it in leading to either severe dehydration in the worst setups, those being things such as fish tanks with screen tops and high wattage bulbs sitting on them or chronic, long term dehydration in mediocre setups with shallow substrates that require constant spraying. Chronic dehydration is thought to be the number one cause of death amongst captive varanids. It is a slow killer with no outward symptoms until it is too late and the animal is beyond recovery even if emergency measures are taken. This is why a well sealed cage with room for a deep, moist substrate is vital to the long term health of many varanid species.

Another very important factor to consider with respect to an enclosure is space. Not only is the amount of space important but how the surface area of that space is used should be a major concern as well. As was already mentioned, varanids are highly active intelligent and curious, therefore should be provided with plenty of room to move along with the tools to perform certain natural behaviors such as burrowing, climbing, or both, not only for the physical benefit but the mental as well, depending on the species. Some species stick mainly to the ground though many if not most will climb if given the opportunity. There are a few ways of using the walls of the entire inside of a cage to the advantage of the animals.

Each enclosure should be designed with the specific needs of the species which will inhabit it in mind. Cages come in all shapes and sizes just like the animals who live in them. I'd like to get a good discussion going on how others provide quality environments within their enclosures along with some photos of the enclosures themselves. I'm interested in hearing how others solve the problems associated with providing suitable environments for their monitors

Here are a couple of mine.

This is a great topic,and I was hoping a few more people would contribute to this thread because this is my week area as when it comes to building I am very much like Homer Simpson.I have built a few cages for my monitors but I have always had a problem some where whether it be to small or not sealed up properly I just suck at building.Here is one cage I used when I lived in Massachusetts the cage is is to small for what I kept in it but this is when I first started keeping monitor and at the time I thought it was pretty big at the time





Its dimensions where 9 feet long but it is in an l shape so it was 5 feet long and then the other half was 4 feet 3 feet wide and 3 feet high I kept my Black throat monitor in this he grew to a little over 5 feet





This how I set up a fish tank I completely cover the top and put the light inside the tank I do not use the dome so the the monitor can not climb on the light and get burned(thank you Ed)Now with the top cover it dose get to hot in there so I do have to keep an eye on it but it dose hold the humidity very well as I almost never have to spray it down.Haslet is right if you do not cover the top the tank will dry out quick as soon as you spray it down it will dry out as heat and humidity rise.Now I feel if you do keep a baby monitor in a fish tank you should get one as large as possible because of what I said about how hot it can get in there once you do cover the top any thing smaller than a 55 gallon you will cook the animal and that is why fish tanks are not a good choice for monitors


greg

a quality basking spot
130f-140°f
note: those are 80W halogens,i use a dimmer for each bulb.

The lamps look very close to the animal, but is it just the angle the photo was taken?

Yes the lamps are really close to the animal. maybe 1,4' (43cm) between the bulbs and the basking area. Don't do that if you don't use a dimmer.

Couldn`t you use a higher wattage, and have it further away from the monitor?

Yes I can. but why? That works pretty well The bulbs surfaces are not too hot , around 176° f. Safer than your higher wattage, no?

You said it! (No), there`s still a chance the animal will get burned if the lamps are too close, but if you`re happy, that`s all that matters! (You can always have a burn treated!)

Yes you can have a burn treated but why would you want to do that over just making your animal safe?

__________________
0.1.0 (Red Tail Boa)

"but if you`re happy, that`s all that matters!"

and you murandindi are you happy with a giant ornate in a S-size enclosure. non mec ,of course you're not.
I told you why I use that "low wattage dimming system", but unfortunately
it can't work over a 50 cm of distance. I just realize how it looks scary on my photo ( huge bulbs, angle ect...) but believe it or not it takes more than 3 hours to get 127°f(basking spot). it's a really low wattage system. it's almost like a fluo lights .